| Operation Ares | |
| Author: | Gene Wolfe |
| Cover Artist: | Paul Lehr |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Science fiction |
| Publisher: | Berkley Books |
| Release Date: | 1970 |
| Media Type: | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages: | 208 |
| Oclc: | 225240530 |
Operation Ares is a science fiction novel by American writer Gene Wolfe, published as a paperback original by Berkley Books in 1970. It was his first novel. While no later editions were issued in the United States, a hardcover edition was released in the UK market by Dobson Books in 1977, followed by a Fontana paperback in 1978.[1] The title is sometimes rendered Operation ARES.
The novel originated from a short story written by Wolfe in 1965. He submitted the story to Damon Knight, who suggested that Wolfe expand it into a novel.[2] Wolfe completed the novel, then titled The Laughter at Night[3] in 1967, and sold it to Berkley Books. Wolfe and his editor, Donald R. Bensen, cut about 20% of the manuscript's 100,000-word length for publication.[4]
Operation Ares depicts a dystopian future where the United States is controlled by an anti-technological leftist regime. The story traces protagonist John Castle's conflict with the government and his increasing involvement with a rebellion backed by a Martian colony which has severed its ties to the U.S. government. While occasionally cited as a libertarian text, Wolfe himself attributes its politics to his being "much more a doctrinaire conservative when I was a good deal younger.[5]
Joanna Russ found the novel unsatisfying, saying "I know what Mr. Wolfe can do when he sets his mind to it; Ares is far below his best." She described it as "a convincing, quiet, low-keyed, intelligent book which somehow fades out into nothing" and, despite praising Wolfe's technique, concluded it was "a failure, shadowy and inconclusive."[6]
Larry McCaffery characterized Ares as "a generally undistinguished first novel."[7]
in 2007, Wolfe said "I don't think Operation Ares is a very good novel," adding that in 1970, he "wasn't really skillful enough to write a good novel."[8]